The NHL Off-Season Thread Starts With a Bang

[Asher]

The Colorado Avalanche have traded Ryan Smyth to the Los Angeles Kings for defencemen Kyle Quincey, Tom Preissing and a fifth-round pick.

[Asher]

The other teams should just as well pack them in. Canucks will win next year.

They just signed Andrew Raycroft.

[Kontiki]

Kovalev signs with Ottawa - 2 years, $10 million.

[Kontiki]

Unconfirmed reports of Beauchemin signing with Toronto for three years.

[Asher]

Toronto signs Jonas Gustavsson.

Guy has been lights-out in Euroland, this is a very good signing if he plays well in North America.

I like what Burke is doing to the team.

[Ben Kenobi]

For league minimum, 500k.

Not a bad deal. Now we have better starting goalie then Calgary, and we have better backup.

At least our backup can get us a win.

[Asher]

For league minimum, 500k.

Not a bad deal. Now we have better starting goalie then Calgary, and we have better backup.

At least our backup can get us a win.

Raycroft? Win?

He's a cancer.

Guarantee you, Macklebackup is a better goalie than Raycroft. Raycroft is unbelievably bad. I can say this because unlike you, I watch all the teams play and not just the home team. I've seen him play...

[Ben Kenobi]

Macklebackup:

1 win 6 losses 3.59 GAA, .889 Save Percentage.

Raycroft:

12 wins 18 losses 3.14 GAA, .892 Save Percentage.

Yeah, I'm really seeing how Macklebackup is better.

What I see is interesting is how Raycroft, playing for the Avs faced way fewer shots then Macklebackup did for the Calgary Flames. Shows how the Avs were more defensively responsible.

[Asher]

If you had actually watched the Flames games, you'd know that when Macklebackup played the team infront of him was brutally bad. So looking at his win/loss record compared to Raycroft shows just how ****ing stupid you really are.

You are obviously tremendously stupid because we've had this argument before. Flubber and I have both discussed, at length, how when Macklebackup ever played the team infront of him was god-awful. We both did watch him play -- something you have not done -- and we see promise and a good keeper in him. He's certainly a far better player than Raycroft is, who single-handedly lost the Avs many games last season with brutal back-breaking goals.

Macklebasckup played in games that were already lost. The fact that he got 1 win out of that is, frankly, something to be commended.

The stat you mentioned -- to any reasonable person -- that Raycroft faced far fewer shots should indicate to you that it's not his problem, it was the team infront of him.

[Ben Kenobi]

If you had actually watched the Flames games, you'd know that when Macklebackup played the team infront of him was brutally bad. So looking at his win/loss record compared to Raycroft shows just how ****ing stupid you really are.

Which explains why his GAA and Save % is lower too, despite having a third of the workload?

You are obviously tremendously stupid because we've had this argument before. Flubber and I have both discussed, at length, how when Macklebackup ever played the team infront of him was god-awful. We both did watch him play -- something you have not done -- and we see promise and a good keeper in him.

I watched the Edmonton game where Macklebackup got smoked. That was quite enjoyable.

He's certainly a far better player than Raycroft is, who single-handedly lost the Avs many games last season with brutal back-breaking goals.

Given the team stats, it's apparent that Raycroft was better then Budaj.

Macklebasckup played in games that were already lost. The fact that he got 1 win out of that is, frankly, something to be commended.

Including the Edmonton game which he just sucked?

The stat you mentioned -- to any reasonable person -- that Raycroft faced far fewer shots should indicate to you that it's not his problem, it was the team infront of him.

Uhh, precisely the opposite. Even with having way more shots, his save percentage was still lower. Put Macklebackup in with Colorado and they would do even worse.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Ok, calm down, Asher. Regardless of how much you think Ben is wrong, dial it back a bit on the personal insults, especially the cursing.

[Asher]

Which explains why his GAA and Save % is lower too, despite having a third of the workload?

Third of the workload was the problem.

He got thrown into 3rd periods when the team had already given up and was down 3 goals or more.

Given the team stats, it's apparent that Raycroft was better then Budaj.

It's apparent to me, and everyone else with basic vision, that Raycroft's stats were worse than Budaj's.

Including the Edmonton game which he just sucked?

It's interesting you picked Edmonton.

Look how much he sucked.

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/GS021226.HTM

He let in 1 goal on 36 shots and got the win. Mind you, he's no Luongo with the 76% sv% in the biggest game of his life, but he seemed to have done just fine in the game you mentioned.

Man, Ben, this is pitiful.

[Asher]

Ok, calm down, Asher. Regardless of how much you think Ben is wrong, dial it back a bit on the personal insults, especially the cursing.

If Ben's not going to do me the courtesy of doing basic research of any kind, he's not going to get any courtesy from me. The only way I can deal with his presence here is to constantly berate him and hope he takes the hint. Unfortunately, he's not that bright.

I'm going to make you ban me before I stop going to down on Ben for his rampant stupidity. Enough is enough. If he's here and I'm here, it's going to continue. The only way to make it stop is to pick one of us and get rid of them.

Ben should just get banned. The signal to noise ratio with him is nil. He's a cancer to the site.

[-Jrabbit]

Sakic to announce retirement...

http://www.comcast.net/articles/sports-nhl/20090707/Sakic.Retires/

AP source: Sakic will retire after 20 NHL seasons
By PAT GRAHAM, AP

DENVER (AP) — Joe Sakic, the Colorado Avalanche's longtime captain who led the team to two Stanley Cup titles, is retiring after a 20-year NHL career, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because Sakic, a 13-time All-Star, is expected to formally announce his decision to retire on Thursday at a news conference.

Sakic, who turned 40 on Tuesday, has been the face of the franchise since the team relocated to Denver from Quebec in 1995. He teamed with Patrick Roy, Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote to capture the Stanley Cup in 1996 and 2001.

It's been a storied career for Sakic, who has won championships and league MVP honors, and led Team Canada to an Olympic gold medal in 2002.

But injuries over the last two years began to mount, curtailing his playing time. He missed most of the 2008-09 season because of an aching back that required surgery to repair a herniated disk. He also damaged three fingers on his left hand in a snowblower accident.

Known for his laser wrist shot and precision passing, Sakic will retire with his name among the NHL's career scoring leaders. He is eighth in points (1,641), 11th in assists (1,016) and 14th in goals (625).

The pride of Burnaby, British Columbia, Sakic said just before the end of the season that he was hoping to be healthy enough to possibly join Team Canada for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. It's unclear whether he will play. However, Steve Yzerman, Canada's executive director, recently extended Sakic an invitation to orientation camp next month.

Sakic was so popular that he became known by two nicknames, "Burnaby Joe'' to the fans in the Vancouver area and "Super Joe'' around Colorado.

He wasn't an intimidating presence - he's only 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds - but his speed and intelligence always had him in proper position. Sakic also was regarded as a quiet, unassuming superstar, a modest player who didn't care about stats as much as wins.

He captured the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and outstanding play in 2001. Sakic exuded his class by handing the Stanley Cup over to longtime defenseman Ray Bourque after the Avalanche won the championship, Bourque's only title.

Sakic will leave as the franchise's leader in almost every offensive category. He skated in 1,378 regular-season games, and another 172 in the postseason.

Sakic had six seasons where he notched at least 100 points and 14 in which he reached 50 assists - including a total of 64 three seasons ago.

Sakic came up clutch in the postseason, scoring eight overtime goals. He also won the Conn Smyth Trophy as playoff MVP in 1996.

[Asher]

Sad, but not unexpected...

Iggy's a lock for 2010 Captaincy now, pretty much.